B-50467: Published: Jul 11, 1945. Publicly Released: Jul 11, 1945.

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GAO commented on whether the unused balance of the special penalty mail appropriation account for the National Housing Agency (NHA) should be covered in the surplus fund of the Treasury or transferred to the sources of funds from which it originally came. GAO held that: (1) the appropriating language in both Public Law 529, and Public Law 49, is clear and unambiguous; that is, Congress, for the respective fiscal years 1945 and 1946, appropriated a definite amount for costs of penalty mail of the NHA for deposit in the general fund of the Treasury; (2) since the entire amount appropriated was not deposited in the miscellaneous receipt account, and in the absence of specific direction otherwise by Congress, the unused balance remaining in the 1945 appropriation account would be carried to the surplus fund of the Treasury; and (3) there is no authority of law for returning any unused balance of the appropriations from which it was transferred.